Hoshor Plains the roots beneath my shaded tree / the moon dancing across my sky

The news that her baby boy was working under the title of her worst enemy should have struck her differently. She should have lashed out with venomous words and a critical eye towards her son, who certainly should be branded a traitor; should have pointed to the cotton-candy scar that would perpetually mar her fine spun muzzle, or should have rehashed the entire saga, from almost a year ago, that Aries had certainly been too young to understand before. As a mother, she should have cried and mourned for her baby’s lost happiness — happiness he surely would have known, and should have found, at her side.

But, Olive just wasn’t surprised. 

The fae blinked those big doe eyes, faceted emeralds cushioned in the creamy velvet of her visage, and drew her tongue across her lips as she thought about the proper response. Olive felt that very much weighed upon her next words, with her relationship with her son teetering on the edge of deeper than ever and eternally disgraced. She sucked in breath, held it for a moment, then spoke. 

“My child, you have been biting others since you were a cub. You think I did not know of your darkness?”

A small giggle punctuated her sentiments, distinguishing this new fact as something not inherently bad. In her heart of hearts, the sylph thought her son to be deeply confused and needing of a home — oh, how she understood that instinct! Olive wanted a home as much as she spurned it, and Olive too had pledged allegiance to heathens in the name of it. Mother was here now. “Oh, how you bothered Charon!” again, her voice was light and crystalline against the frigidity of the air — but her making light of the situation broke when Olive perceived Aries’s emotionality; felt is almost as a visceral upwelling in the pit of her own stomach.

With a sudden solemnity, Olive took a step closer and address the man — boy? — who stood before her. “Those wolves are monsters.” she spoke plainly and sincerely. “ But you — you are not a monster.” Different, yes? But a monster? No! These choices of his merely stemmed from misinformation, or a lack of education in societal ethics. It was not his doing, but hers for having driven him away so young. Almost as if she were reasoning with him, Olive’s voice broke. “You were just a baby.” she illustrated. Oh, her baby left alone in this world! The thought was heart-wrenching. 

Holding Aries’s gaze, Olive took yet another entreating step towards him. “Are you… happy, there? with them?” The fae wanted him to truly think about his answer, about his true potential, about what the legacy he would leave might be — and just as silence blanketed the two wolves, Olive yielded and told him straight forward what she was getting at.“You could come with me, stardust. We could be free together. We could fly away from here — far, far away.” Olive wasn’t sure if that was more for Aries’s sake or her own, but she would be remiss to deny either. Didn't this feel good? Didn't he want this goodness to continue?